Swim Bladder Disease Medication

if your betta fish has trouble swimming, or swims only along the bottom of the tank, it may have swim bladder disease, a common ailment for bettas. When a betta has this disease, its swim bladder will either contract to a below-average size, or overextend and bloat, making it difficult for the fish to swim.

  1. Symptoms and Treatments

    • A betta with swim bladder will float around the tank, to the top or bottom, aimlessly and seemingly with no control. The betta's spine may also appear to be crooked, in the shape of the letter "S." Fasting the fish, decreasing its amount of food, can be a beneficial treatment. But, as swim bladder can be caused by a bacterial infection, there are antibiotics and medications which can also improve the fish's health and increase the chances of recovery.

    BettaZing and BettaMax

    • Similar medications, BettaZing and BettaMax are used to combat parasites and fungi in bettas. These medications, while used for cases of swim bladder, are also effective against fin-related diseases. These medications are also helpful in cases of nonbacterial infections.

    Antibiotics

    • The antibiotics available for the swim bladder disease are Kanacyn (kanamycin sulfate), Spectrogram (kanamycin sulfate and nitrofurazone), Tetracycline and Furan 2 (nitrofurazone). These are for the treatment of bacterial-caused swim bladder disease.

    Prevention

    • Pet Fish says that one of the main causes of swim bladder disease is overfeeding. To prevent overfeeding, and not risk underfeeding the fish, increase the number of feeding sessions during the day, but give less food each time. Also, limit the number of bloodworms that are fed to one or two a week. Bloodworms are fatty, and may cause constipation.

    Considerations

    • To determine whether the swim bladder disease was caused by a bacterial infection or not, take the fish to a veterinary clinic. Swim bladder can also affect ornamental goldfish. The common remedies for goldfish are switching to a gel-based food, green peas (frozen variety) or just a different type of food than what was being fed before the bladder infection.